"Reason Or Excuse?"

"The sluggard will not plow by reason of the cold; therefore shall he beg in harvest, and have nothing." Proverbs 20:4

I had a very wise old minister tell me one time that there is a difference between a "reason" and an "excuse". We may or may not have a good reason as to why we did or didn't do something. But an excuse is not necessarily a good reason- usually it's something that we use to try to justify what we don't want to do. Excuses, more often than not, are "convenient".

We tend to have more excuses than reasons when it comes to neglecting spiritual matters. We can always come up with an excuse as to why we can't read our Bibles- (I'm too tired). Usually that's only an "excuse" because we aren't too tired to stay up half the night watching television or playing computer games. How about getting up to pray? (It's too cold; it's too early.) That's more of an excuse than a reason because it's not too cold or too early to get up and travel to a doctor's appointment, or go to the once a year flea market, or go to our morning exercise class. How about church attendance? (Sunday is my only day to sleep in; I don't like the songs they sing; nobody talks to me at that church.) You tell me- reason or excuse? What about other areas? What keeps you from doing what the Lord has called you to do? Is it a reason? Or is it an excuse? When it comes to doing the will and plan of God, we have no excuses or reasons not to. If it's a real "reason" standing in the way, He knows how to remove it, rearrange it, cause it to work for good to accomplish it. If it's an excuse, He knows the difference, and it won't work on Him either.

Excuses are a "dime a dozen", you can always find one. I tend to think that the sluggard in the verse above had a good reason not to plow- it was cold. (In my limited knowledge of farming you plant in spring and fall not in winter when it's cold.) What happened was he used so many excuses not to plow and plant that his excuses caused him to put it off for so long that when he finally decided to do it it was too late. If you keep making excuses you can find yourself missing the opportunity and then it will be too late. Too many people do this with their eternal souls. They give one excuse after another why they won't be saved- or, not "right now" but will do it later. Later may be too late.

Have a great day. Is your "reason" really an "excuse"?